Buying and sending gift cards and gift certificates online is very popular. Digital gift certificates can be sent via email and provide quite convenient gifting opportunities for both the sender and the recipient. Furthermore, emailing gift certificates make them easy and extremely quick last minute gifts.

With these thoughts in mind, there are a few things online shoppers should note about buying gift cards and gift certificates online. I offer the following five tips to enjoy the best deals on gift cards and gift certificates and avoid a few pitfalls.

1. Buy gift cards/gift certificates when they are on sale.

Yes, that’s right, gift cards and electronic gift certificates are sometimes put on sale. For example, sometimes you can buy a gift card or gift certificate for less than its face value. Other times you can use a special coupon code for a better deal or a bonus value on gift cards and gift certificates. Please note, though, that unless specified otherwise, gift cards are generally excluded from online coupon code discounts.

2. Buy gift cards/gift certificates when they are offered as a bonus.

Many online retailers sweeten the deal by offering a free gift card or gift certificate as part of a larger order. For example, sometimes all product orders of more than $100 receive a special $10 or $20 gift card bonus. Sales like this are more common around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays but can also be found for other gifting times like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

Additionally, online shoppers can occasionally receive a bonus gift card or gift certificate when purchasing a gift card online of a certain value — an example would be to receive a $10 gift card for yourself when emailing someone a $100 gift certificate.

3. Buy unwanted store gift cards/gift certificates at a discount.

Some online retailers specialize in buying unwanted gift cards from consumers and reselling them to other consumers at a discount. Usually the retailer’s stock of “resell” gift cards are bought individually from consumers at 60-70% of their face value and then sold to other consumers for 80-90% of their value. The gift card reseller pockets the difference for providing such a gift card marketplace. One leading retailer in this space is GiftCards.com. [13-Dec-11 update: Another trusted gift card buyer and reseller is Plastic Jungle.]

A word of caution: One should always be careful when buying gift cards and gift certificates from any source other than the original issuing merchant. Gift card resellers range from ethical to scammers so beware. While successful transactions may occur at popular auction sites like eBay and gift card brokers like GiftCards.com, that does not mean all online transactions are honest and smooth. Be sure to review the seller’s reputation and terms of the sale and make sure you are comfortable with the sale before proceeding.

4. Convert credit card points and airline miles into gift cards/gift certificates.

Don’t forget to check out your airline frequent flier miles and credit card points to see if you can exchange them for some popular merchant gift cards. Often it is easy to convert $40 or $45 worth of points or miles into a $50 gift card so watch out for those great bonus opportunities.

5. Browse our gift cards/gift certificates section for the latest savings.

To make it easier for online shoppers to buy and send gift cards and to find gift card and gift certificate deals of all kinds, we created a special Gift Cards & Gift Certificates section. There online shoppers can sort an extensive selection of links to merchants selling their own gift cards and gift certificates online. We also provide information on available gift card bonuses and other gift certificate savings opportunities.

Several days ago a Facebook friend tagged me in a note called “Name Game.” The way this “game” worked was for a friend to answer a series of serious and laughable questions allegedly relating to his or her name. In this case, starting with her full name, the list of questions called for and then combined with information from various other personal questions to develop a series of gag names — as I recall, examples included her movie star name, political candidate name, mafia name, celebrity name and so forth. The results were actually quite funny.

When I though about this later, though, it wasn’t funny anymore. You see, once you are “tagged” in such a note, you are supposed to do the name game yourself, post your own “name game” document and share with 25 or so of your friends whom you tag. This process would be harmless among honest friends but many people become friends with people on Facebook who they don’t even know. This name game document represents a potential recipe for disaster. Let me explain why.

In recording the answers for this “Name Game,” one ends up providing all of the following information: your full name, city of birth, mother’s maiden name, father’s middle name, and even pet’s name. That is a powerful combination of personal information.  That’s when it hit me what this information represents. The answers to these questions are often used to verify identity for banking and other secure services. Armed with these answers and the victim’s email address (also obtainable via Facebook), a devious person could commit identity theft and other illegal or spiteful acts.

So, with this security risk in mind, I urge everyone to be prudent — even with fun and seemingly innocent things. Don’t share personal information in a non-secure environment like Facebook.  Beware of frivolous questions involving personal information. Think before hitting send or replying. It could be your identity or reputation that you damage in a vulnerable moment.

One more thing to mention about this true story: I quickly contacted my Facebook friend about this security risk and she removed her “Name Game” note immediately. With this warning in mind, now is a good time to review the information you have posted previously and purge if necessary.

With high-tech data encryption and other security technologies, online shopping is one of the most secure forms of commerce available. It can also be a convenient and stress-free way to address your shopping needs.

What follows are 8 tips for maximizing your online shopping experience by enhancing your security — and ultimately your peace of mind. If you follow these 8 tips you will avoid many problems.

1. Use a Secure Web Browser

Make sure the web browser on your computer is current and you have download the latest patches and updates. All major web browsers are capable of secure shopping sessions with 128-bit encryption strength.

2. Shop Secure and Reputable Stores Only

A secure web browser will not protect you if you are shopping on a site that is not secure. Reputable sites have security measures in place to protect your online shopping experience and use at least 128-bit encryption on their servers during checkout. Verify the security of your checkout session within the status bar of your browser by looking for the appropriate security icon (often a “locked” padlock). You can click on this icon for important security details about your current shopping checkout session. The absence of this icon (or an “unlocked” padlock) means your checkout session is probably not secure. Note: only the checkout session needs to be secure so don’t be alarmed if you don’t see security enabled at other times. Never enter your credit card if the session is not secure.

3. Use a Major Credit Card

Credit cards generally provide the highest level of legal protection from fraud and liability. All major credit card issuers also have customer service teams to help with dispute resolution and fraud claims should they arise.

4. Review Store Return Policies

While returns are usually not needed and many online stores make this process very easy, it’s still a good idea to review the store’s return policy so there are no surprises should you need to make a return. Please note that returns can alter the minimum order size and result in a removal of free shipping or other discount that had a minimum qualifying order size. Many stores also require a RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) before they will accept a return so be sure to follow their procedures correctly.

5. Verify Order Before Final Submit

Most online shopping carts provide a final review page so you can verify your order before submitting. At this time be sure to check your shipping and billing addresses for accuracy, your items ordered (quantity, size, color, etc.), and any other order details. If you used a coupon code or discount link, then, unless stated otherwise, the appropriate action or discount should be reflected on this page. Your shipping total should be clearly stated here as well. Generally your state’s sales tax, when required, will be itemized as well. If all is correct, be sure to click the submit button (or link in some cases) to authorize the purchase.

6. Print a Receipt

After your final review and order submission, you should receive a confirmation and/or receipt (and often a second one via email). It’s a good idea to print this page (or save the confirmation email) for your records until your order has arrived and you have checked it for accuracy. This confirmation or receipt often contains store policies, shipping information, tracking numbers, customer service contact information and other helpful details. It can also expedite the return process should you need that.

7. Track Your Shipment

Many online stores will notify you via email when you order has shipped and will provide you with an electronic tracking numbers. This tracking number enables you to track the location of your package as it makes its way to you. (We have links to major shipping companies where you can track your order’s status and estimated arrival date.)

8. Carefully Check Your Products

When your order arrives, be sure to carefully check the invoice to see if any items are backordered, canceled or being sent by separate package. Many online stores have multiple warehouses and so ship a single order from many destinations meaning that your order may arrive over a period of a few days and in several different packages. Make sure all items arrived intact and without damage. Does it work? Does it fit? Are all the pieces there? These and other similar questions should be verified quickly so a return request, if needed, can be initiated before it’s too late. Often a return process must be started within 30 days of receipt or the item is no longer eligible for return.

By following these eight tips you can maximize your online shopping experience and avoid most of the problems some people experience. Many who have made these tips part of their standard online shopping procedure feel that online shopping is the most convenient form of shopping.

A few hours ago I received yet another email claiming to be from iTunes warning me that there was a problem with a recent purchase. The email looked like something Apple could have sent but I hadn’t made such a purchase recently and they did not send it.  Even if I had, though, I would have been suspicious since many scam artists create emails that look like they come from legitimate banks, PayPal, eBay, iTunes, etc. so they can lure people into “correcting” supposed account errors. By doing this, thieves can capture credit card and other personal information they can use later.

So how do you protect yourself? There’s one easy way that I recommend. Don’t click on any emails asking for credit card or account updates. Instead, if you receive such an alert, open your web browser and type the name of the bank, credit card or store website yourself and then login to update your account securely that way. Also, don’t ever send credit card information or numbers via email — most email messages are not encrypted for security.

I have shopped online for 12 years now and have not experienced any safety problems with it. Reputable stores like those on Shopping-Bargains.com have tough security measures in place that make Internet transactions more secure than phoning the order in (especially over cellular or wireless phones) or even buying in person where the store clerk has access to your credit card and/or receipt.  So with all this in mind, be extra careful with email messages as you enjoy the convenience and extra security of online shopping.

Like me, I’m sure many of you get tired of moving from the keyboard to the mouse and back to the keyboard when using a web browser. Surely there must be an easier way to fill out web forms and navigate webpages you may think.

Well, I’m happy to report that there are a number of web browser keyboard shortcuts that allow you to skip the mouse altogether for many common web browser tasks. Others keyboard shortcuts can be combined with your mouse to perform Internet tasks quicker or easier.

Here are ten helpful keyboard shortcuts that work with most web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer.

1. Move the Cursor to the Browser’s Address Field [Ctrl] + [L]

If you want to visit another website and are ready to type the address in the address bar then you can use this keyboard shortcut to bring your cursor to the address field so you can start typing.

2. Instant .com Address [Ctrl] + [Enter]

If you want to visit a .com website, all you have to do is type the website’s name (the portion between the www. and the .com) and when you press these keys together your web browser will add the http://www. and .com portions of the web address and automatically take you to that website.

3. Scroll Down One Screen [Space]

Tired of scrolling? Use your spacebar to jump down one screen.

4. Scroll Up One Screen [Shift] + [Space]

You can quickly jump up one screen with this shortcut.

5. Go Back One Page [Backspace]

Tired of hitting the back button? You can use your backspace key instead to go back to the last page you visited.

6. Go Forward One Page [Shift] + [Backspace]

Changed your mind and want to see that page again? Use this shortcut to go forward one page.

7. Open a Link in a New Window [Shift] + [Click]

Sometimes it’s nice to open a link in a new browser window instead of letting it overwrite the page you are reading. Just use this shortcut to open most links in a new browser window (or on a new tab with some browsers).

8. Open a New Tab within the Browser Window [Ctrl] + [T]

Most newer web browser versions have a tabbed interface where you can open up multiple websites within one browser window. This tabbed feature makes it convenient to quickly move back and forth among several websites at once without having to minimize and maximize windows.

9. Search Within the Current Page [Ctrl] + [F]

If you are looking for a certain word or phrase on the page you are viewing but don’t want to read the whole page you can use the browser’s search feature. Please note that this tool does not account for spelling errors and only finds exact keyword or phrase matches.

10. Print the Current Page [Ctrl] + [P]

This shortcut prints the webpage you are currently viewing.

Please note that the keyboard shortcuts above may only function as described for recent versions of the Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox web browsers. I did not test other web browsers.

Here’s a bit of search engine trivia that some of you already know but many will find interesting. Did you know that when you search for something using a search engine like Google, Yahoo or MSN there are two types of results given?

The first type of results are typically shown along the very top and right-hand side and they are considered “sponsored” results (also called sponsored links or sponsored sites). These are basically paid ads and someone pays the search engine every time this ad gets clicked. (Trivia: Often search engines charge more than $1/click for this space!)

The other type of search results are mathematical formula-driven and based on a secret and often patented ranking scheme developed by each search engine. These results, usually referred to by “geeks” as organic or natural listings, are the result of years of research and analysis into categorizing data and delivering up relevant answers. (Trivia: Some search engines claim to analyze more than 100 factors for each site they recommend for your search query — and there’s usually at least 10 sites recommended per results page. That’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes!)